Final Thoughts

Winding up the trip I can look back at quite a few different experiences here which have affected me both positively and negatively. I can say without question that I am glad I have had the chance to visit India, meet the people here, and get to see what life is like in the world’s largest democracy. I knew India would be different than other places I had travelled, but even still was surprised at how different it really was.

The course taught me a lot about the culture here, or at least in Kerala for that matter. I have been and continued to be amazed by the niceness of the Indian people, how friendly and agreeable they are without being pushy or overbearing, and how safe I always felt amongst the thousands of people that constantly surrounded me in India’s most densely populated state. I am leaving impressed with the commitment to grass roots development, women’s empowerment and community involvement, education, and rights for the working class and poor that exist here in Kerala, even if that doesn’t represent India as a whole overall.

The groups that we worked with here to learn about Ecotourism and Sustainable, affordable housing have shown me some guiding principles, and the work that they are doing here is quite impressive from a dedication and commitment standpoint. The importance of community involvement and buy in, innovative thinking and decentralized development as an alternative to bureaucratic mandates, is something that I will take away from my 3 weeks here in Kerala.

At the same time there have been some aspects that I have struggled with here as well. While we saw inspiring examples of what can be done here in India with innovative approaches, we also spent much of the time touring buildings and facilities that look nothing like the rest of the state. Every time we entered one of these areas, it felt like we were transported out of Kerala and into an alternative universe that looked nothing like the miles and miles of roadside developments we saw while riding in the bus. From this I still wonder how Kerala can truly promote sustainable development that can be scalable enough to really make an impact. The ideas and concepts we learned in this course were great starting points, but I think the next question is how that can be brought to the next level.

I also learned how much the concept of beauty and cleanliness can vary from culture to culture. Even though we discussed very much differences between India and the US, how perceptions of internal and external cleanliness differ between the two, I still found it hard to ignore the trash and debris that are so prevalent in India. Indians have an amazing ability to focus on internal harmony and cleanliness, and block out the external filth and noise. This is admirable in many ways, but as someone who spends his life attempting to take in the surroundings as much as possible in a holistic view, I found myself very affected by those same dirty surroundings that Indians are so capable of expunging from their minds. 

To a degree it’s simply a matter of differences in cultural mindset, but I also feel like there is room for improvement that could help better the lives of Indians in more than just aesthetic ways. Cleaner water, better sanitation and not having to walk through and around piles of burning trash all day are certainly things that can lead to a better quality of life for all around.

I recognize though that this is a difficult task in India for cultural, financial, and even simply spatial reasons. I also know that India is changing quickly, and is still in its infancy as a democracy and as an open economy, so the realities of life and expectations here are much different for a 60 year old than a 25 year old. The problem with only visiting a place once however is you only get to see a point in time, and not a line of progress. Change cannot be measured by a single visit, and so right now I can only take in the India that I see today. 

But this will fuel my desire to return to the country, and to visit more than just Kerala next time in order to see what the people, culture and issues are like in other parts of the country. I used to think 3 weeks was the minimum time required to see India, but that’s not even close. I think for a country so big and varied, you could easily spend 3 months here and only scratch the surface.

I probably won’t ever have 3 months available to truly get to know India that way, but I am glad to know Indians back in the US as well that I can use to continue my education about the country, and to help me understand the pros and cons of Kerala and the development model that we have studied for the past 3 weeks. 

Beyond that, I will savor the weeks full of experiences I had here, some positive and some negative, but all important in helping me form a picture of what it means to talk about India the country and Indians the people.